Railway-car construction



(No Model.) W. H. RONEMUS.

RAILWAY GAR CONSTRUCTION.

Patented Aug. 27, 1895.

[Iii/Ill l I IIHII llll I Nab NITED STATES nron.

ATENT RAILWAY-CAR CONSTRUCTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 545,096, dated August:27, 1895. Application filed May 27, 1895. Serial No. 550,882. (Nomodel.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. RoNEMUs, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cedar Rapids, in the county of Linn and State of Iowa, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Construction of Railway-Cars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The object of this invention is to improve the construction of cars,more particularly freight-cars, so as to make it possible to repair thedraft apparatus and connected parts without the necessity of goinginside the car.

The invention consists in the construction, combination, and arrangementof parts, as hereinafter fully set forth and claimed;

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 is a plan view from below of a device embodying my invention asapplied to an ordinary freightcar. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation ofthe same in the line 0000. Fig. 3 is a transverse section thereof in theline y y. Fig. 4. is a view of one of the plates against which thespring of the draw-bar bears.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

In the repairing of cars as now constructed, more especially in therepairing of the draft apparatus, or those parts which connect with thedraw-bar, much difficulty is often experienced, from the fact that theparts constitute practically a portion of the framework of the car. Itbecomes necessary, therefore, in many cases to take out some of thetimbers and replace themwith new ones, or to splice broken timbers, andin any case this cannot be done without access to the interior of thecar, as many of the parts are bolted-through the floor and sillsthereof. This invention is designed to remove this difficulty by aconstruction which admits of the entire draft apparatus beingtaken outor put in without goinginside the car. The advantage of this will beapparcut when it is considered that these repairs often are necessary tocars in transit loaded full of merchandise, locked, and sealed.

Referring now to the drawing, the bottom side of the sill.

of a freight-car is illustrated in Fig. 1. has the usual longitudinalsills A AA A A A, end sills B B, with dead-woods BB, bolsters O or O,the former wood and thelattera truss of iron, and middle cross-beams DD. These timbers are strengthened by truss-rods E E of the usualconstruction, and rods E E and E and E, specially adapted to therequirements of this invention, as will be hereinafter more fullyexplained. Between the timbers A A at each end are attached twocheekplates or brackets F F. These form the supports and guides orhousingfor the drawheads (not shown) and are entirely plain on the innersides, excepting a lug at F, through This which passes a bolt 12,securing the part to the cross-sill B longitudinally, and an offset atthe tail end, to which is bolted by bolts a a the hookf, connecting thisportion of the cheekplate with the bolster G. The forward portion of theplate passes forward under the cross-sill B and is bolted verticallythereto or to the dead-wood B by a suitable bolt or bolts 1)". The outerportion of the plate belowthe sill A projects a little laterally, so asto form a bearing its entire length along the under Near the middle ofthe cheekplate is a recess F to receive the followers K K, forming theend bearings for the spring J. A reinforcing-flange F" serves tostrengthen the plate atthis point and to give increased bearing on theunder side of the sill.

The form of the followers K K is shown in Fig. 4., the projecting endsextending over the shoulder at each end of the recess and preventing anyupward movement of the followers or draw-bar at this end. Where astirrup or pocket is used at the inner end of the draw-bar the followersmay be solid, as shown in Fig. A. In case a tail-bolt is used a hole isbored through each, as shown in Fig.- 2.

To give the cheek-plates additional sta- I bility of attachment andtruss them against lateral strains, a yoke G passes under them just backof the cross-sill and is securely bolted thereto. It is to be noticedthat this yoke has an angular shoulder at g, bearing against the bottomflange of the cheek-plate, as shown in Fig. 3. Itis to be understoodthat the construction is the same on both I it is subjected.

sides, though but one is shown, some of the intervening parts beingbroken away for that purpose.

The cheek-plates are connected at the bottom by a strong tie L, whichforms one of the supports for the draw-bar. This is preferably providedwith two bolts 1) 1), connecting with each plate.

Across the recess F' extends an angle-plate I, having an inwardly-benttongue I to retain the draw-bar spring in position laterally. It is tobe understood that one of these is attached to each cheek-plate, thoughonly one is shown in Fig. 3. Below these plates I I are two cross-ties HII, firmly connecting the lower portions of the cheek-plates at thesepoints by suitable bolts Z)" 1), extending through lugs or flanges ofthe cheek-plates. These cross-ties are offset, as shown, to give roomfor the pocket of the draw-bar.

The truss-rods E E connect with each bolster by strong hooks e e. Forconvenience of attachment these are preferably connected to the rods byeyes, as shown. Each bolster is also coupled to its respectivecross-sill by a pair of truss-rods E" E", provided with suitable hookse" c". It will thus be seen that each bolster has a rigid connectionwith each end of the car, and is thereby enabled to resist the powerfulshocks and strains to which The'truss-rods are provided with the usualturnbuckles c c. It will be seen that no bolts used in connecting thecheek-plates or their adjuncts with the'car pass through the sills orfloor thereof and all are accessible from the under side of the car. Itthus becomes possible to remove either the draw-head or the entire draftapparatus without going inside the car, and a great saving clai m 1. Thecombination with a car, of the cheekplates F F, having suitablelugs F Fto connect them with the end sills B, recesses F on the under side,hooksff at the other ends of said cheek-plates, and the bolster C withwhich said hooks connect, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

2. The combination with a car, of the cheekplates F F having recesses FF adapted to receive the followers for the draw-bar springs, followers KK, and angle plates I I having inwardly bent tongues I I to holdsaidspring laterally in position.

3. The combination with a car having bolsters, substantially asdescribed, of the cheekplates F E provided with hooks ff engaging saidbolsters, truss-rods E It with books e" e, connecting said bolsters, andtrussrods E E" with hooks e 6 connecting each bolster with the end sillof the car, substantially as and for the purpose set forth'.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' WILLIAM H. RONEMUS.

Witnesses:

FRANK L. RONEMUS, J. M. ST. JOHN.

